Some 150 marine mammal protected area (MMPA) researchers and managers as well as government and conservation group representatives from 42 countries and overseas territories convened in Martinique in the French Caribbean from 7-11 November 2011 for the Second International Conference on Marine Mammal Protected Areas (ICMMPA2). The goal: to seek solutions to shared problems related to marine mammal conservation and to MMPA site and network design, creation and management. A secondary goal was to orient those working in MMPAs to set those protected areas in the broader context of marine management, in order to ensure that MMPAs are not marginalized as marine spatial planning work advances. Unlike most scientific meetings, the ICMMPA stresses workshops, panels, and open forum discussions to emphasize collaboration, communication and networking among MMPA practitioners.

The conference was co-hosted by the French MPA Agency (Agence des aires marines protégées) and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Fifteen other international and regional sponsors, as well as a dozen supporting organizations, were actively involved, most either based or with representation in the Caribbean.